San Diego: Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise is back as Pete "Maverick" Mitchell after 34 years in "Top Gun: Maverick", and the anticipated film's first sneak peek shows him soaring high in the sky.

Cruise made a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday to launch the first trailer of the long-awaited sequel, calling it "a love letter to aviation".

"I was always asked 'When are you going to do another one?' Well, you've been very patient with me. I felt like it was my responsibility to really deliver for you," Cruise is seen saying at the event in a video, which has gone viral on the Internet.

"I really wanted to give you all an experience of what it is to be inside that aircraft. It's a love letter to aviation," the 57-year-old said, adding that for him "Top Gun" is about competition, sacrifice, family, heroism and aviation".

Released in 1986, "Top Gun" was apparently inspired by a magazine article on Navy pilots. The film followed life of a fighter pilot and launched Cruise's career as a global action star.

In the trailer, the actor looks charming, and is as devoted to his duty as he was in the original movie.

The sequel picks up decades after the 1986 box-office hit. It also features Miles Teller as the son of Goose, Maverick's partner who died in the original film.

The trailer opens with a jet flying over a desert, very close to the ground.

In the trailer, a high-ranking official played by Ed Harris, tells Maverick: "Thirty-plus years of service. Combat metals, citations -- only man to shoot down three enemy planes in the last 40 years. Yet you can't get a promotion, you won't retire and despite your best efforts, you refuse to die. You should be at least a 2-star admiral by now but here you are a captain, what is that?"

To this, Cruise as Maverick responds: "It's one of life's mysteries, sir."

Although fans were elated with peek into Maverick's world, the film's story still remains a mystery.

The trailer doesn't let one inside the plot but promises lots of thrilling sequences, breathtaking fighter jet action and a nostalgia-induced ride.

There are glimpses of Cruise's iconic bomber jacket, Ray-Ban sunglasses and his character racing with a jet on a bike.

"Everything you see in this film is for real," Cruise told fans at the event, and the gleaming smile that one witnesses when he is driving a bike or flying a jet in the trailer, makes one trust his words, and buckle up for the film.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the movie also stars Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell and Lewis Pullman. It is slated to release in June or July 2020.